Viy Tora Kay
Viy Tora Kay is a turian martial art, dating back to 500-550 CE as a distinct discipline. Fighting style Viy Tora Kay (commonly referred to as 'Tora') is a strike-based style, suited to turian anatomy in terms of the offensive capabilities of the talons and the defensive properties of carapace. Tora is noted as a pragmatic martial art, with many adoptions from other styles. The movements of its practitioners in combat are oriented around producing results rather than aesthetics, although observers have noted a certain elegant functionality. Stance-switching is a common element, augmented by the various stances taken from other styles, making it difficult for opponents to predict a practitioner's intent from their current physical position. Although never instituted as a formal part of Hierarchy training, Tora enjoyed some popularity among the armed forces between three and five centuries ago. In modern times it is much rarer, having been eclipsed by advances in styles more suited to regimented training. Tora's modern rarity, though, offers advantages to its practitioners against opponents unfamiliar with it - with its many borrowed stances, it is possible to deceive an opponent not only regarding one's intended moves, but one's style entirely, giving a significant element of surprise when a stance thought to be recognised becomes an entirely unfamiliar attack. Tora draws sharp distinctions between sparring and fighting, with the latter trained for, but never indulged in as a competetive recreation. While the style includes the usual array of rules and conditions surrounding sparring matches, to ensure fairness and safety, a Tora practitioner only 'fights' an outright hostile foe, and no standards of fairness are imposed in the pursuit of achieving the goal of the fight, whether it be disabling the foe or safely disengaging from them. In addition to recreational martial artists, and a small number of non-sporting devotees, Tora also has a small following among asari, owing mainly to daughters of turian fathers. While the style is intended for turians, its emphasis on pragmatism encourages modification to suit the differing anatomical characteristics, and the concept of deceptive stance-switching has been noted to be a good match to asari Huntress psychology. No modern sport-style competitions in Tora exist, although followers have an internal system of rankings, and individual or group contests are frequently held. Despite its rarity in modern times, the style is recognised by most of the Hierarchy's mixed martial arts governing bodies, and can thus be seen on occasion in high-profile MMA contests. Philosophy Viy Tora Kay has a wide-reaching school of philosophy behind it referred to as the Viy Tora, in which determined followers are encouraged to read and debate extensively. The central text is known as the Tora manuscript, which combines both philosophical treatise on conflict and practical manual. The oldest surviving Tora manuscript dates back to the 7th Century CE, but many more recent versions exist, as a key rite of passage for a follower of the Viy Tora is to handwrite their own Tora manuscript, copying the original text from an earlier manuscript (often that belonging to a mentor), and adding annotations from their own experience; earlier annotations are also copied and annotated themselves where a scribe has new insight to offer, resulting in many modern manuscripts including not only the core text, but a wealth of additional information and learning from the chain of practitioners its contents have passed through. Another tradition is that the Tora manuscript should be written in Ark Palaven, an archaic turian language which is now spoken fluently only by a small number of scholars, in addition to the elders of the Viy Tora. Most practitioners do not speak the language, but the ability to read the Tora manuscript in its original Ark Palaven is seen as a significant advancement. Translations of the manuscript to more widely-used languages are not discouraged, but are not seen as 'true' manuscripts. Out-of-character notes *The image of a Tora manuscript is taken from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which it was the Kosst Amojan. Category:Culture Category:Media & Entertainment Category:Martial arts